Carolina Hurricanes vs. Arizona Coyotes: Game Preview and Storm Advisory

The Hurricanes will face off against the Coyotes tonight without the presence of three usual starters. Injuries to the forward corps and the blue line allow for Charlotte Checkers standouts Valentin Zykov and, presumably, Roland McKeown to draw into the lineup tonight.

Game Notes

• The Hurricanes lead all-time with a 38-30-9 record, including a 17-15-6 record on home ice.
• Tonight’s matchup is the second and final between the two teams this season. The Hurricanes lost the first in November in a shootout. The Canes have won six of their last eight games against the Coyotes, dating bak to December of 2013.
• Scott Darling is historically very strong against Arizona, going 2-0-1 with a .961 SV% and a 0.97 GAA in three career starts, but Cam Ward is likely to start tonight.
• Antti Raanta was in net last night for Arizona’s win against Buffalo, so we can expect to see Darcy Kuemper between the pipes tonight in Raleigh.
• The Hurricanes announced that Victor Rask and Brett Pesce would both miss the remainder of the season with shoulder injuries yesterday. The news broke just days after Noah Hanifin was ruled out indefinitely with a concussion.
• The absence of Hurricanes stalwarts opens up the lineup for potential auditions in the NHL from worthy Checkers players. Valentin Zykov is expected to start tonight and play on the top line centered by Sebastian Aho and complemented by Teuvo Teravainen.
• Checkers defensemen Roland McKeown was recalled following the news about Pesce. You can expect for the third year pro to draw into the lineup tonight, unless Hanifin is unexpectedly cleared to play.

Required Listening Assignment

Don Waddell joined Adam Gold yesterday to talk about the future of the franchise. He had some surprisingly interesting and candid insight. Included in this interview:

• Previously unrevealed details about Scott Darling arriving at Canes training camp out of shape
• Darling will be back with the franchise next year, but the Canes will be looking for another goalie this summer
• The future of Bill Peters and an evaluation of whether he was given a roster capable of making the playoffs
• An acknowledgement that the roster will have changes made to it over the summer
• What owner Tom Dundon expects his role to be with a new general manager

It’s much more eye-opening than a standard DW interview, and it’s well worth a listen.

More Storm Advisory

• The NHL GM’s voted to make a change to the goalie interference review process. [AP]
• Sydney Crosby scored a beauty of a goal last night against the Canadiens.

• And here’s something to brighten your Thursday: